Music festival’s critics are loud

Thursday

Aug 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM

EDITOR’S NOTE: In Case You Missed It is a digest of recent Register-Guard articles of interest to Springfield readers.

The blaring melodies and thudding bass lines of the three-day Kaleidoscope music festival shook the walls of Jim and Mary Evonuk’s nearby farmhouse, rattling the stove and the picture frames. The music left the horses and cattle of one of their neighbors, Ralph Zack, in a state of continuous agitation.

In a first for Lane County government’s fledging Emerald Meadows public events venue, festival music also traveled far beyond the Howard Buford Recreation Area and its close neighbors off Seavey Loop Road.

Noise followed the river north into Springfield, drawing at least 16 complaints in the city over the weekend. Authorities said reports of thumping bass were received as far east as Camp Creek Road near the McKenzie River — more than five miles from the festival grounds — and as far north as the intersection of 42nd Street and Commercial Avenue, just north of Main Street. Many of the excessive noise reports were made by Springfield residents who could not identify the exact source of music, but believed it originated somewhere nearby.

Noise was hardly the only issue at the festival.

The festival led to traffic congestion issues on Friday, a number of illegal-drug seizures, accusations by some neighbors of trespassing by festival-goers, and three hospitalizations — two of which are suspected of being drug-related.

An estimated 7,000 to 9,000 people attended the festival each day.

As festival attendees drove and hitchhiked away and organizers started their cleanup on Monday, Jim Evonuk proclaimed Kaleidoscope “just way over the top.”

“It made other (musical events at Emerald Meadows) look like baby showers,” he said.

“People are very upset,” added Zack. “It was way too many people and much too loud. It was ridiculous out here.”

Lane County parks manager Mike Russell said Monday that, overall, Kaleidoscope had been “a successful event,” but acknowledged that, in terms of noise control, “it was a failure.”

“We’ve learned what too loud is” for Emerald Meadows, he said.

For the county’s effort to turn the 80-acre site next to the traditionally quiet county park into a major money-maker, Kaleidoscope could prove a tipping point.

Several county commissioners who visited the event and spoke with Seavey Loop area residents over the weekend expressed doubts Monday about the long-term viability of Emerald Meadows as an events venue.

The county commissioners “need to have a discussion about whether it’s an appropriate venue. I don’t believe so at this time,” he said.

County board Chairman Sid Leiken of Springfield said he expects such a discussion to be scheduled sometime in September.

“I’m not ready to give a definitive opinion on whether Emerald Meadows should continue yet,” he said. But, he added, how Kaleidoscope unfolded “clearly hurts the overall case.”

Festival organizers, Eugene-based One Eleven Productions, described this weekend’s Kaleidoscope as a first run on which they will improve. They signed a three-year contract with the county in April and plan on expanding the event next year.

The issues that arose “are all fixable,” said One Eleven’s Phoenix Vaughan, although he acknowledged that the festival, a mix of genres dominated by electronic music acts, “is always going to be loud.”

“It’s really easy to pick on events like these,” he said. “But football games can lead to 20 fights and hospitalizations. ... The Cuthbert Amphitheater (near downtown Eugene) still gets noise complaints every year.

“There’s going to be a period of adjustment.”

Organizers took apart music stages and other equipment Monday morning, while campers broke down their tents and piled up their trash, leaving behind the flattened yellow grass of the meadows. Several festival attendees and vendors praised the event, although they noted some logistical issues, including clashes between event security and vendors as well as people sneaking into the festival without paying.

Although a private firm handled the bulk of event security duties, festival organizers also paid to have two Lane County sheriff’s deputies patrol the site for 11 hours each day. Much of the work apparently involved investigating illegal drug use and sales. Deputies are investigating eight separate cases of transactions at the festival involving more than user-level quantities of drugs, sheriff’s Sgt. Steve French said.

Although no one was arrested on the spot in the cases, prosecutors are reviewing police reports for consideration of criminal charges, French said. He did not provide specifics on the types or amounts of drugs involved.

School board OKs fall vote on bond

The Springfield School Board unanimously approved Monday night a $62.5 million bond measure proposal for the November ballot that would replace a middle school and make various upgrades to the district’s schools.

The board heard testimony from five members of the public — four of whom said they support the measure.

Springfield resident Fred Simmons, however, said he doesn’t think now is the time to ask voters for more money. He said the district should consider making renovations to Hamlin Middle School — which was built in 1957 — rather than tear it down and replace it.

“I believe with the economy the way it is that now is a bad time,” Simmons, a former city councilor, told board members. “I know you need to (make upgrades), but I think you need to take a clearer look at how you do it.”

The owner of a $150,000 home would pay an extra $62 a year, or 41 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, if the bond passes. The average taxpayer currently pays about $1.02 per $1,000 of assessed for school bonding each year, or $153 per year for the owner of a $150,000 home.

If voters approve the bond, the district anticipates replacing Hamlin Middle School by 2017.

About $5 million of the bond would pay for adding classrooms at Maple, Mount Vernon, Ridgeview, Riverbend and Yolanda elementary schools, partially to prepare for full-day kindergarten in 2015.

The bond also would pay to replace aging computers and provide WiFi to district schools.

Also on Monday, the board approved the district going forward with plans to become a self-funded health insurance provider, rather than contract with nonprofit PacificSource for medical benefits.

Finance Director Brett Yancey told the board that the district anticipates saving money by lowering its fixed costs, having fewer assessments and taxes, and being able to tailor its own benefits. He said the increased health costs the district faces are partially a result of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Yancey said the district has looked into providing its own insurance for the last three to four years. The program will cover 3,700 employees, retirees and dependents.

City hires firm to help find new police chief

City officials have launched the recruitment effort for the next police chief.

They are seeking a new leader to stabilize a department roiled by the abrupt departure of its former chief, who stepped down in order to avoid being subjected to an investigation that could have led to his firing.

The city has hired Sacramento-based Peckham and McKenney to help find the successor to former Police Chief Jerry Smith. The city will pay $18,500 for the firm’s services and up to $7,500 more for associated expenses, including consultant travel, advertising and background checks, according to the contract.

The advertised base salary is $109,699 to $127,254, plus benefits. The city is seeking candidates with a master’s degree, high-level training and seven to 10 years of command experience. The application deadline is Sept. 23.

The firm will advertise for the position, but said it also will draw from its extensive candidate database to look for someone who is the right fit to lead the police force that has been embroiled in controversy.

Smith, who was earning $122,865 a year, decided to retire rather than face an investigation into his romantic relationship with a police department employee.

Last month, a longtime Springfield police sergeant filed a tort claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, accusing city and police officials of retaliating against him for raising concerns about what he characterized as a culture of misbehavior among department brass.

The personnel firm will make its recommendation of finalists to City Manager Gino Grimaldi after preliminary interviews with the applicants. The finalists will be brought in for interviews, scheduled for Oct. 24-25.

Grimaldi will make the hiring decision. The city hopes to extend a tentative job offer by the end of that month.

City spokesman Niel Laudati said residents will have the chance to meet the finalists and make comments.

The Springfield police union also will have a role in the chief’s selection, he said.

Willamalane wraps up purchase of property

The four major players in Willamalane Park and Recreation District’s purchase of 136 forested acres in southeast Springfield each get something out of the $3.6 million deal that was celebrated formally on Friday.

As the primary beneficiary, the park district acquires another swath of land for a public hiking and mountain biking trail system along the Thurston Hills ridgeline as well as a 4-mile section of logging road it will develop into a paved walking and biking path.

The Trust for Public Land, which assists local public agencies with land conservation, succeeds in preserving oak prairie and oak woodland habitat on the property.

“It really is important habitat right here in the middle of the community,” said Owen Wozniak, the trust’s project manager for Western Oregon.

Seller Weyerhaeuser earns a return on forest property it has owned for 61 years but would be difficult to harvest because of the cost and probable criticism from environmentalists and nearby residents.

“It was a better option for Weyerhaeuser, and it’s a nice option for the community,” said Tally Patton, forest land use manager in the company’s Springfield office.

And with successful negotiations, the city of Springfield would make street improvements to reduce collisions and improve access.

The deal represents Willamalane’s second property acquisition using funds from a $20 million bond measure district voters approved last year. The property was appraised for almost $4 million, officials said.

In June, the district and trust partnered to purchase 175 acres, known as the Gray Jaqua property, to the east just outside the city limits. The purchase price was $2.5 million.

Shooting victim expected to survive

A 27-year-old Bend man who was shot several times when an alleged drug deal went awry in a Wal-Mart parking lot is expected to survive, Springfield police said Monday.

The two suspects in the case, meanwhile, were arraigned Monday afternoon in Lane County Circuit Court on a long list of felony charges related to an incident that unfolded shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday outside the Wal-Mart at 2659 Olympic St.

Prosecutors charged the suspected shooter, Anthony James Hillenius, with attempted murder, first-degree assault and two counts of robbery.

Hillenius and Monpas are both 20-year-old Cottage Grove residents. They were being held in the Lane County Jail.

The shooting victim and a second man who was assaulted physically in Saturday’s incident are recent acquaintances of the suspects, and had agreed to meet them in the Wal-Mart parking lot to carry out a drug deal, Springfield police Sgt. David Lewis said.

But during the scheduled meeting, Hillenius allegedly shot the Bend man several times — striking him in the torso and extremities — before fleeing the scene with Monpas, police said.

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